Abdominal pad used in surgery



March 12, 1968 P. s. RULDIE 3,37 6

ABDOMINAL PAD USED IN SURGERY Filed Jan. 22, 1965 32 Z INVENTOR.

PE TER 5. HUD/E Yv .ATIOPNEYS.

United States Patent Ofiiice 3,3 726'9'6 Patented Mar. 12, 1958 3,372,696 ABDOMINAL PAD USED IN SURGERY Peter S. Rudie, 2002 E. 4th St, Duluth, Minn. 55812 Filed Jan. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 427,315

Claims. (Cl. 128-132) ABSTRACT OF THE DISQLOSURE The disclosure is an abdominal pad used in surgery and includes a flat thin flexible body member having a pocket formed on the lower end thereof, the remaining portion of the flat body member forming an apron. The lower edge of the body member has weight means secured thereto for maintaining the lower portion of the body member in the cavity of the abdomen to control the intestines therein.

The invention relates to an improvement in devices used in surgery and more particular to a pad used to isolate and position intestines from an organ being removed or treated.

In surgical operations where an incision is made into the abdominal wall access must be made to the internal organ 'being removed or treated. In many cases access is difficult due to the presence of intestines which must be held out of the way so that procedure may be effected. Under present methods, surgical sponges (generally pieces of absorbent cloth each about a foot square) are packed in the cavity formed and held by retractors to hold and separate the intestines away from the organ of concern. It is difficult to cause a sponge to stay in the desired position in the cavity whereby a diseased organ may be worked on. Further, surgical sponges are not cheap and each sponge must be sterilized'after use. A further present method is to use rolls of guaze to hold the intestines in the desired place, but the guaze must be held in place by conventional retractors, and it takes an assistant to hold the retractors.

It is an object of the invention to provide a pad consisting of a lint-free thin flat flexible substantially rectangular member having elongated flexible weight means secured thereto with a pocket formed on the member together with an apron portion extending substantially from the pocket which is highly effective in maintaining intestines in the desired position away from portions or areas of the abdomen and the pad in place.

It is a further object to provide a pad which will effectively retain intestines in the desired position in a cavity formed in the abdomen.

It will not be here attempted to set forth and indicate all of the various objects and advantages incident to the invention, but other objects and advantages will be referred to in or else will become apparent from that which follows.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, showing by way of example a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

In the drawings forming part of this application:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a human body in which an abdominal incision has been made with the pad in operative position in the cavity created.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the pad with portions thereof broken away and a surgical sponge shown in position in the pocket of the pad.

FIGURE 3 is an edge view of the pad.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a lower corner of the pad.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the pad, a portion of the same being broken away.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the pad A includes the flat substantially rectangular body member 10 which is made of a thin flexible material not of a limp nature but having a slight degree of rigidity. The material may be a lint-free cloth, plastic yard goods or the like. A convenient size of the member 19 has been found to be approximately ten inches in width and twenty-four inches in length.

Formed on the lower portion of the body member 10 is the pocket P which is made up of the rectangular fiat piece 12 made of a thin flexible material having substantially the same properties as the member 10. The longitudinal edges 14 and 16 of the piece 12 are secured to the longitudinal edges 18 and 20 of the member 10 by means of the sewing 22. The lower transverse edge of the piece 12 is sewn as at 24 to the lower transverse edge of the member 10. The piece 12 is further sewed to the member 10 at 26 and spaced transversely therefrom at 28, both sewings 26 and 28 spaced from the lower edge of the piece 12 and member 10 thus forming two elongated transverse enclosures 27 and 29. Each enclosure 27 and 29 is broken up into a series of pockets 30 by means of the sewn portions 32. Positioned in each pocket 30, before the sewing is completed, is the weight 34 in one form as a metal ball. With a weight in each of the spaced pockets 30 there is formed an elongated weighted portion at the lowermost end of the member 10 which is flexible in nature. The space S between the transverse pockets 27 and 29 allows the pad A to be folded in half lengthwise to reduce the Width of the pad.

The portion of the member 10 between the upper edge 36 of the pocket P and the upper edge 38 of the member 10 is the apron portion and is indicated as ll). The weights 34 may also be rectangular or bar formation, or the entire weight means may be a metal chain piece or the like mounted between the pieces 10 and 12.

In using the pad A, the intestines I are positioned where desired, as to the left in FIGURES 1 and 4, and the lower weighted end of the pad A is inserted foremost into the cavity C. The apron portion 49 is laid over the body away from the cavity and draped downwardly therefrom as shown particularly in FIGURE 4. The Weighted transverse end of the pad keeps the pad A downwardly in the cavity C formed in the abdomen, and it keeps the pad A from tending to double up horizontally thereby effectively maintaining the intestines I in place and packed away from the organ 0 whereby the organ may be properly taken care of by the surgeon. In addition, the apron portion 40 controls one end of the entire pad A while the weights 34 controls the other end of the pad A.

The apron portion 44 protects the skin of the patient thereby doing away with the need for a towel clipped to the skin of the patient adjacent the cavity, i.e., the margin of the wound. The apron portion also aids in maintaining the lower portion of the pad A in the cavity. The pad A separates the abdomen into compartments, dividing the diseased part from the healthy part.

When the patient is obese and the bowels tend to extend from the cavity, a sponge, such as X, is placed in the pocket P to give more stability to the lower end of the member 10 in the area of the pocket P.

With regard to FIGURE 6, a further embodiment of the pad is shown as D which includes an elongated flexible envelope member 42 which may be formed of lintfree cloth of a porous mesh, plastic yard goods or the like. The member 42 is partially filled or may be completely filled with small weights 44. The pad D is usually made in widths of one-half inch, one inch or two inches with a length of approximately twelve inches and is used in surgical operations where a relatively small incision is made such as a hernia operation or the cavity is reduced 3: to a small opening. The pad D is used by inserting the same in a cavity in the abdomen, for example, and due to the weights, the same is maintained downwardly in the cavity, the main body portion of the pad D retaining intestines in the desired position behind the same. Both pads A and 1) are sterilized after use and reused.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details set forth since these may be modified within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A pad used in abdominal surgery and the like comprising:

(a) a flat thin flexible body member for insertion into a cavity formed in the abdomen of a patient having surgery,

(-1)) said body member having a pocket formed on the lower end thereof adapted to receive a flat flexible member for stabilizing the body member in the area of the pocket, the portion of the body member extending from the pocket forming (c) an apron portion for draping over the body of the patient away from the cavity to thereby aid in bolding said body member in the cavity and the intestines in the desired position,

(d) Weight means secured to said body member adjacent the lower edge thereof for maintaining a portion of the body member downwardly within the cavity of an abdomen to control the position of the intestines of the patient.

2. A pad used in abdominal surgery and the like corn prlsrng:

(a) a fiat thin flexible body member for insertion into a cavity formed in the abdomen of a patient having surgery,

(b) weight means secured to said body member adjacent only the lower edge thereof for maintaining a portion of said body member downwardly within the cavity of the abdomen of the patient to control the position of the intestines of the patient.

3. A pad used in abdominal surgery and the like comprising:

(a) a flat thin flexible body member for insertion into a cavity formed in the abdomen of a patient having surgery,

(b) said body member having a pocket extending across the lower end thereof adapted to receive a flat flexible member for stabilizing the body member in the area of the pocket, the remaining portion of the body member extending from the pocket forming (c) an apron for draping over the body of the patient away from the cavity to thereby aid in holding intestines in the desired position,

(d) weight means secured to said body member adjacent the lower edge thereof for maintaining a portion of the body member downwardly within the cavity of an abdomen to control the position of intestines of the patient.

4. A pad used in abdominal surgery and the like comprising:

(a) a flat thin flexible body member for insertion into a cavity formed in the abdomen of a patient having surgery,

(b) said body member having a pocket formed on the lower end thereof, the remaining portion of the body member forming an apron for draping over the body of the patient away from the cavity to thereby aid in holding intestines in the desired position,

(0) weight means secured to said body member adjacent the lower edge tbereof extending substantially the width of the body member for maintaining a portion of the body member downwardly within the cavity of an abdomen to control the position of the intestines of the patient.

5. A pad used in abdominal surgery comprising:

(a) an elongated flexible envelope for insertion into a cavity formed in the abdomen of a patient having surgery,

(b) said envelope having weight means secured within the same at only the lower edge thereof for maintaining a portion of the envelope within a cavity in the abdomen to control the position of the intestines of the patient.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,284,143 11/1918 Reid 128-296 1,597,556 8/1926 Townsend 128- 292 2,682,873 7/1954 Evans et a1. 128296 2,832,346 4/1958 Morstad 128-287 3,037,507 6/1962 Me-lges 128132 3,111,943 11/1963 Orndorff 128-432 3,244,169 4/1966 Baxter l28-l32 OTHER REFERENCES Annals of Surgery, pages 54A-55A, September 1950.

Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovas. Surgery, Volume 40, Number 5, November 1963, Boyd et 211., pages 705 and 708, Massive Plombage Thoracoplasty.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

CHARLES F. ROSENBAUM, Examiner. 

